Our mission is to be a community of active learners and engaged citizens

in which all members are intellectually curious, globally and socially responsible, with a commitment to wellness.

415 Great Lakes Drive

Brampton, ON, Canada L6R 2Z4

T 905-793-2155

F 905-793-5228

www.hmbss.com

Principal:

S. Dalcin

Vice-Principals:

L. Gayle

L. Shire

Office Manager:

L. Gullo

School Council

Meeting Agenda

September 24th, 2015

Introduction and Welcome

School Council Elections

School Council Meeting:

1. Engage Math Link for parents

http://www.peelschools.org/parents/helpyourchild/math/Pages/default.aspx

2. Principals Report Sherry Dalcin

3. Discussion (Question and Answer)

4. Meeting Dates

November 26, 2015

April 14th, 2016

May 26th, 2016

Principals Report

School Council

September 24, 2015

Introduction of Principal

Take this opportunity to tell you about myself and my background in education. This is my 28th year with the Peel District School Board and prior to that I was a Peel graduate from Chinguacousy SS. I taught Physical and Health Education, History and Law at BCSS for 16years. I then obtained the opportunity to open a new Brampton high school as the Head of PHE at Fletchers Meadow SS and remained there for 4 years. I then moved into administration and arrived to HB as a Vice Principal for 3 years, followed by one year as a VP at Chinguacousy S.S. It was quite an interesting experience to return to the school you graduated from as a VP. During that year at Ching I had the exciting opportunity to oversee the construction of a 20 room extension onto the existing building as well as organize the start up of the regional Sci-tech program for the North. I have been the Principal at HB for three years (this is the start of my fourth).

Enrolment and Staffing

Each year, our school starts off with a certain number of teachersthis staffing number is based on estimates made the previous spring about how many students will be enrolled during the next school year. Then in October, we review our staffing numbers and compare them to the actual enrolment. We currently have 1109 students in the school, 72 teachers and 6 TAs. We also have 13 international students and look forward to potentially receiving more as the Peel Board opens its doors to students from many different countries.

Each year, our school starts off with a certain number of classes and teachersthese numbers are based on estimates made the previous spring about how many students will be enrolled during the next school year. Each year, the board holds a re-organization Day. On this day, administrators compare actual enrolment numbers to the numbers projected by the board in the spring. This year we have determined that our enrollment went down slightly and we will be losing one teacher. This means we will have to find 6 sections to remove from the timetable. This will affect some teachers and students as we cancel classes and move those students into other course. It will be completed by October 6th.

Programs at HB

1. UP Update

IB is a well-established international curricular program that has existed since 1967 in Switzerland and 1997 in the PDSB. We are currently a candidate school for IB and will be verified to full membership this November.

Every year we host an information for parents and students in grade 8 and through our application process bring in 116 students each year into the program in grade 9. We currently have grade 9 and grade 10 IB. Students officially start their IB courses in grade 11. As the program builds, over the next 4 years we will eventually have a total of 400-500 students in the IB program.

2. SHSM

a) Business

b) Justice

Program starts in grade 11 into grade 12

Set of courses that focus on the area

Students get certifications and training (first aid, cpr, whmis)

Trips

Connection to guest speakers in this field

2 credit co-op

c) New program Explore High Skills

-schools with SHSM offer unique opportunities to students in grade 9 and 10 prior to entering the SHSM

EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

HMBSS provides a very rich extracurricular program. Each year, at this time, teachers decide what extracurricular activities they will volunteer to coordinate/sponsor. This year we are pleased to offer many activities to our students.

SAC

Yearbook

Zonta

Drama club

Athletic Council

DECA

The Voice newspaper

Link Crew

Drum line

Library Volunteers

Outdoor club

Science club

Computer club

Robotics

Dance Team

Intramurals

Doers not dreamers

Beyond the hurt team

Peace by piece

Fitness room club

Student Ambassadors

WOW we welcome the world

Forest of reading

Strategy & simulations

Team unbreakable

Music council

Investment club

Mock trials

Guitar Club

Asian Heritage month

Black History month

Breakfast club

Math contests

French contests

Terry Fox Fundraiser

Prom

Semi-formal

. And more as the year goes on.

Cross country running

Flag football

Football

Slo-pitch

Baseball

Badminton

Cricket

Archery

Volleyball

Basketball

Soccer

Ball hockey

Math contests

French contests

Business contests

Writing contests

Reminder - Late Start Days

We will be having 4 late start days this year instead of the 10 that we had last year. These sessions are used for teacher professional development and planning around our school success planning goals for Literacy, Numeracy, Community /Culture / Caring and Pathways. We are also focused on developing 21st century skills and the use of technology by both staff and students to support learning.

September 23

November 25

Feb 24

April 13

We have a full PD day on May 13 with a focus on

- Numeracy

Tutorial Days

We host a tutorial day just before mid term and final mark reporting. The purpose is to promote the completion of missed assignments and tests. Stuents who are identified by their teacher will be given the opportunity to complete missed assignments/tests under the supervision of teachers.

Staying connected

We continue to connect with parents/guardians /students through our school website

Website www.hmbss.com

I encourage all parents/guardians to click on the subscribe button on left and enter an email address for automatic updates. Will be Encouraging parents to sign up when they come to Parents night on October 29th for web updates and online attendance

Opportunity to get click subscribe button on left and enter email for automatic updates. .

School Twitter account at Harold M. Brathwaite@HMBSSBlizzards

Reporting Cycles:

There are 3 formal reporting cycles per semester.

Progress Reports October 16th and March 11 (Learning skills and a comment if at risk)

Mid Term November 13 and april 19 (Mark, LS and a comment with Strength & next step for improvement )

Final Report February 8th and June 29

In addition to these, teachers keep students up to date on progress through assessments completed and conversations on a daily basis.

School Council meeting minutes - September 24, 2015

Introduction by Sherry

- welcome & introductions by sherry

- role of the school council

- SHSM explanations of each program

- package of registration including calendar

Staffing update & explanation

Explanation of programs at school (SHSM & IB, Hanrahan)

Positions of responsibility on the Parent Council

- leadership on the council and registration sheets

- growth mindset

Various organizations within the school

- Request Post list of activities on the website

Late starts

Board initiative this year is engage math

Assessment and evaluation: growing success

Bullying prevention

Mental health

All students are HB students, they are all learners.

Can the staff get help with late drop offs? Individual conversations don't seem to help.

- Sherry has approached the city more than once to get a traffic study.

Questions

How will we work to keep the school safe?

- some decisions are made by the board, all doors are locked except the front.

- staff is visible in the hallway

- hat policy is an indicator of nonstudents

Can teachers give clear instructions on how to handle a fight?

- like fire drills - we need to practice

How can we support French at the Grade 9 level? Is there interest in starting a French club?

- contact teacher and/or VP

Has there been a decision as to which HL and SL courses will be offered?

- need to assess both what they want and what their performance will be.

- TOK will be attached to either English, history or business

Suggestions

In assemblies, emphasize how important it is to come forward

- vigilance is important, we make contact with students

- use cameras to determine participants and bystanders

- we can't prevent them all, but by setting standards we promote good behaviour.

Use monitors to repeat information to build habits

Have another meeting in January, and we should have a meeting every month

Comments:

Parents share responsibility for student behaviour & safety

Make it clear to kids that filming a fight is creating evidence

- Sherry explained that staff spend a lot of time debriefing the bad decisions they make

English & TOK were a good fit at Turner.

Older child when in IB took one course in summer school

Discuss on how to build membership with other parents.

Positions of Responsibility

Chair: Steven Choon

S. Dalcin distributed contact information

Next meeting November 26th, 2015